Climate Change Summit about to close without agreement

COPENHAGEN, December 17.— The UN Summit on Climate Change, which ends today in Copenhagen, had not reached any concrete agreements as of last night, but it did feature countless appeals by political leaders to find a consensus before it is too late.

The race against the clock was evident in the halls of the Bella Center, the conference venue, with participants trying to achieve a minimum of consensus, if not the legally binding agreement desired by the majority of the 192 countries participating, EFE reports.

Meanwhile, members of Danish social movements and other international organizations gathered at the Valby Hallen Stadium in this city on Thursday to hear Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who opened his speech saying, “Long live the young people, the volcano of socialism, the volcano of the peoples!”

Chávez noted that it was the anniversary of the death of the liberator of Venezuela, Simón Bolívar, and affirmed that he continues to be an example for the youth of Our America and of the world. “You all know that today is December 17. I would like to honor a timeless revolutionary, a timeless youth, our father,” he said.

The rally was attended by Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo, who also spoke during the summit’s plenary session; Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos; and other members of the ALBA bloc, according to YVKE Mundial news.

For his part, Bolivian President Evo Morales, who also spoke during the conference plenary, announced that a popular referendum is underway, and has been proposed for the entire world, to find out whether the world’s citizens would support or reject ideas for saving “Pachamama” (Mother Earth).

In a speech that was greeted with applause on several occasions, Morales affirmed that even if the governments of the rich nations rejected such a referendum, the peoples represented in the organizations and demonstrations in Denmark had already expressed, with their protests, their initial approval of the initiative.

In his speech, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Fander Falconí emphasized the importance of all countries accepting their moral and ethical responsibility to the planet. He described the underdeveloped nations as “passive smokers,” and stated that the developed countries were historically responsible for the climate debt that we now have with Mother Earth. (SE)